TEMECULA: Council besieged by e-mails about mosque

E-mails sent to the Temecula City Council in recent weeks warn
of dire consequences if Muslims are allowed to build a mosque in
Temecula's Nicolas Valley, a rural community in the city's
northeastern corner.

From one of the e-mails: "The decision you are going to make is
no different than if you had prior knowledge of the Japanese
bombing at Pearl Harbor and not only did nothing, you actually
supported it."

There was also a missive in which the author used all uppercase
letters, possibly as a way to emphasize the message: "How are you
all going to feel watching the destruction of this beautiful
community knowing you are the cause because you allowed the Muslims
to take over."

The e-mails, from the general public, were forwarded last week
to The Californian by members of the Temecula council. The council
will rule Tuesday on an appeal of the Dec. 1 Planning Commission
approval of plans for a mosque that have been submitted by the
Islamic Center of Temecula Valley.

The appeal was filed by Temecula resident George Rombach on
behalf of a group calling itself Concerned American Citizens.

The mosque is slated for a 4-acre parcel on Nicolas Road west of
the Baptist and Presbyterian churches at the corner of Nicolas and
Calle Medusa.

The city's Planning Department, in a report issued late last
week, is recommending that the council uphold the commission's
approval of the mosque because the city, according to the
department, processed the center's application in keeping with all
city codes, state law and federal law.

Critics, including members of the anti-mosque group, disagree
with that report's findings, and have said they plan to critique
various sections and detail how they believe the city's analysis of
the plans is legally lacking.

Councilman Jeff Comerchero said the volume of correspondence
---- e-mails and letters ---- has been similar to that prompted by
two other big controversies of recent years, the Liberty Quarry
project and the Summerhouse housing complex.

But, in one difference, he said, is that many of the messages
are coming from people outside the city.

"I don't recall one from a Temecula resident," he said. "It
seems like we're getting a lot from San Diego."

The flurry of e-mails from the San Diego area might be linked to
a San Diego radio host, Rick Amato, who on Monday posted a message
on Twitter urging people to contact the city regarding the mosque
plan and tell them to "vote 'no' on (the) mosque."

Comerchero said he has been reading the e-mails and that the
tone is not that different from correspondence he has received on
other issues.

"I read them all and take out of it what I feel I should take
out of it," he said.

Some of the e-mails bring up theological arguments against
Islam, but Comerchero said the city won't and can't rule on
anything other than the planning issues that were brought forward
in the appeal: traffic, building height and related issues.

"... My sense is there isn't a really good understanding of the
appeal and the nature of the appeal," he said, adding that some of
the letter writers are "against the religion."